Dear Bolts Nation: First and foremost we hope that you and your loved ones are safe and doing well. From the Bolts office we continue to follow communications from our governing bodies regarding updates and directives. At this point there are projected start dates and alternative plans regarding leagues, games and all other club activities, however this remains a guessing game for all of us. We will continue to update all of you once we have further details after solid and firm decisions have been made regarding the start of all activities. We will continue to keep you updated when we receive more relevant information. Stay safe.

UMass Mount Ida Field is CLOSED The numbers of COVID-19 cases in Newton, in Middlesex County, in the Commonwealth and across the country are escalating. The most effective tool we have to slow the spread of this coronavirus is social distancing – including when people are outside. We have been asked by UMass and the Mayor of Newton to let you know that the field at UMass Mount Ida Campus is officially closed. No one should be using the field for any purpose. There is no way to lock up the field, but there are now signs posted. This is a challenging time for everyone and while it may seem harmless to gather and kick a ball around, please do not. We will let you know as soon as we are cleared to use it. We can save lives by staying separate.  Do your part to help flatten the curve and help keep our community safe. It is so important that we slow the pace of transmission so that our health care personnel and facilities are able to keep up and care for everyone who needs it. We are all in this together. Lives depend on rigorous social distancing by each of us. Thank you!

Bolts East Region fun Activity Our East Region Director is having a little fun with his group so we though we would share this club-wide. We are asking that parents send in photos of their kids when they were very young - playing soccer or at a soccer game, kicking/holding a ball, etc. We will create these as: Throwback Thursday on our social media pages and post by team with several photos for parents and kids to look back on.  If you could send a photo by next Monday morning to Bolts@BostonBolts.com , that would be great. It can be a baby picture or a photo of the first time they played soccer (at home or competitively).

BOLTS ALUMNI THROWBACK Bolts Academy in Dallas at DA Showcase in 2011 Pictured: Gabe, Victor, Pablo, Mac, Jay, Duff, Brian, Craig, Ryan, Jack, Aidan, DC, Josh, Will, Erick, Marco

Victor Parra goes from Central Falls to San Jose: “Don’t close any doors” NE Soccer Journal April 5, 2020 by Jonathan Sigal If you were to connect the dots of  Victor Parra ’s soccer journey, the lines would get crisscrossed pretty quickly. It’d start in the Providence, R.I., area before shipping down to New York City. Next would be a cross-country trip out to San Jose, Calif., a massive leap to northwestern Portugal and an eventual return to the West Coast. Take into account his Colombian roots and a stop in Australia, and now we’re talking about four different continents. The team list is pretty extensive, too, starting with the Boston Bolts’ early days in the Development Academy and the Region 1 ODP squad. That paved the way for two seasons apiece at Monroe (junior college) and San Jose State University (Division 1), plus time with the NPSL’s East Bay FC Stompers. Professionally, Portugal’s lower divisions, the Major Arena Soccer League and the U.S. national arena team are all highlights. But there’s far more to Parra than his soccer résumé, and it all starts with a simple life lesson. “Don’t close any doors and take advantage of every opportunity,” Parra, 25, told New England Soccer Journal in a wide-ranging interview. “You never know what will get you where. You never know if you’ll have that opportunity again. It could seem small at the time, but it could change your life.” Life-changing decisions define much of Parra’s upbringing, which can be traced back to Central Falls, R.I., by all accounts a tough city. Alongside his two sisters, he was raised by a single mother and never met his father. But that didn’t stop soccer from playing an outsized role, starting with local recreational leagues. He eventually joined Bruno United, shifted into the Bolts DA system and was an inaugural participant in Project GOAL, a Rhode Island-based non-profit organization that empowers academic success through soccer. As valued as those experiences were, Parra ran into plenty of obstacles. He needed rides from teammates and coaches, and the game’s pay-to-play model presented a steep financial hurdle. Parra’s mother also didn’t speak English, so he was often left asking for scholarship money. “I’d have to break the ice, that language barrier,” Parra said. “I was maybe 13 and it was a lot of pressure. I didn’t want to put the pressure on anyone, but I knew if I didn’t ask for rides or money it just wouldn’t happen.” Guidance often came from his Bolts’ coaches, whether it was now-Providence head coach  Craig Stewart  or now-Michigan head coach  Chaka Daley . And their advice became especially prescient when the prospects of college soccer rolled around. READ MORE

Positive Coach Alliance FREE Course for Student Athletes Below is a link and course description for a program being offered for FREE through April 30th from the Positive Coaching Alliance. This is a 60 minute online course that we recommend for all Bolts athletes.  You can register directly through the link. COURSE LINK Course Description : PCA 60-minute course will be offered for FREE for a limited time until April 30th. Positive Coaching Alliance’s online Triple-Impact Competitor course includes Doc Rivers, Julie Foudy, Shane Battier and other top coaches, athletes, and experts teaching student-athletes how to make positive contributions on three levels- Personal Mastery (Improving Oneself), Leadership (Improving Teammates) and Honoring the Game (Improving the Sport). Please note our athlete course is most appropriate for 12 to 18 year olds.

Bolts Official YouTube Channel Click HERE to subscribe. Once we have 100 subscribers our Channel will be "official" so please SUBSCRIBE!! There are a few other Bolts channels out there with videos, but we wanted to consolidate them all into one place so players, families, coaches, can have access. We have team playlists with recent game videos; instructional skills videos to challenge younger players; and even some fun content created by our staff & membership.

A Compilation of Digital and Social Resources from US Club Soccer You might have already seen  this article on our website , which aggregates several digital and social media offerings. We periodically update it with links to past Facebook Live sessions, but you’ll also see details of our TopYa! virtual skills contest, ScoutingZone’s free four-week recruiting plan, Beast Mode Soccer videos and more.

Revolution Development League (RDL) Updates Newsletter Issue 2 has been added to the league website: http://www.revolutiondevelopmentleague.com/newsletter.html Social Media / Throwback Thursday Please continue to tag us and share what you are doing to stay connected with your players via the various social media platforms! Also please share big accomplishments or funny moments from your club/teams to include in our Throwback Thursday campaign. Please send us your pictures and videos to  social@cm8soccer.com  and include as much identifiable information as possible - year, team name, event, coaches name, etc. Individual Skill & Fitness Programs Through our partnership with Soccer Specific, we want to make you aware of their FREE individual skills and fitness programs. The top 6 posts are individual / Home Soccer & Fitness workouts by age. These posts will be updated weekly with new challenges until we are all back on the field:  https://soccerspecific.com/learning

New England Patriots plane brings back more than 1 million masks from China Jonathan Kraft, chairman of the Board at Mass General, and the Kraft family worked with Governor Charlie Baker to transport essential N95 masks for health care workers at Mass General and other area hospitals. Read More

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